C13 Wager

Dylan's POV

I scan the crowd but fail to spot my mom. We were separated by the stream of people. To make it worse, the air is full of perfume, mixed with sweat and the smell becomes really aggressive.

"Can’t we just walk in? The gate is open."

“We shall wait for the king’s servant to invite us in.” Zander answers.

“Look at them.” I signal Zander to watch. Quite a lot people have entered the hall.

“They are terrible examples.” Zander replies nonchalantly, ignoring the fact that more and more females are surrounding us, eagerly showing off the curve of their body.

A situation no longer terrifies us, for we have been quite get used to it.

Each year there will be an Alpha Summit organized by royals. Despite it is called Alpha Summit, the ceremony is open to all the werewolves. Whatever your rank is, you deserve to be treated as a noble on this special day.

It is said that the royals even mercifully invite rogues with good behaviors to join the party. The ironic thing is that never had any rogues accepted the invitation, yet the invitation never ceased.

Rogues treasure their dignity very much while most omegas in the pack have a totally different attitude towards dignity. They can sacrifice it for anything, as long as the rewards are satisfactory.

Zander had compared the two and confessed his preference for rogues over omegas when he was seven, at a bonfire party. He delivered an eloquent speech like a Greek orator and earned roar of approval, yet next morning an anonymous complaint went to my mom, accusing Zander of demoralizing his own people by saying rogues are better than omegas.

Although my mom didn’t blame Zander, he no longer freely expresses himself in public since that day. Somehow he realized his words have elicited trouble, so he decided to remain silent about the touchy issues. Sometimes I would wonder whether this silence is a loss to him, or a loss to our pack.

Mom had told me that a good leader is supposed to take different opinions but she didn’t stand by Zander when he was attacked by bad words. I had imagined my mom would defend Zander in public and warn those snobbish to be careful about their words. But the truth was mom turned a blind eye to this event and let go of it. Nancy demanded an explanation, which made mom sigh with a bitter smile.

“I am doing this for the overall interests,” she told us.

“What about Zander’s interest? He becomes more and more uncommunicative because of this thing.”

“Well, then you should figure out a way to make him talk.”

“Why me?”Nancy asked doubtfully.

“Because you’re the most beautiful girl in our pack and if you are not able to make him talk. Nobody else can.”

“But I am not the most beautiful girl in our pack.” Nancy shrugged and raised her chin and declared confidently, “I am the most beautiful girl in the world”.

“Absolutely! Now I officially assign this mission to you, young lady.”

The art of persuasion is like witchcraft. My silly sister was enchanted by mom’s words and started her so-called stalking mission from that day. Her love for Barbie films faded, soon replaced by a crazy passion for espionage movies. Her room is filled with thousands of posters of Jason Bourne and the day Zander agreed to be the Advisor of our pack, she gave a toast shouting “Mission Complete”, making the whole room sink in weird silence in the following pauses. As for Nancy’s crush on Zander? That’s another story.

To a certain extent, Zander and my sister have something in common. From time to time, they do things that are too extraordinary to be understood by the ordinary. Maybe they could make a good couple, but nothing is for certain before Zander’s 18th birthday. To be or not to be, a question for Hamlet to ponder on. To accept or to reject, a question for Zander to think over.

“Good evening gentlemen, I am Charlsie, hope I didn’t interrupt you guys.” a gorgeous blond makes a way through the crowd and approaches us with a bright smile. Her eyes are lingering on my face which makes me a little nervous.

I manage to smile back at the woman, but fail to recognize who she is. Nancy is right. My memory sucks.

“She is the new Aide-de-camp of the king.” Zander whisper besides me.

I can’t help but sneak a glance at Zander. How can he possibly know this? Internet? I sincerely doubt it. Charlsie pins a string of her hair back with her left hand and offers her right hand to me.

“It is our great honor to meet you in person. The dress looks stunningly adorable on you. ” I lower my head and give her a hand-kiss.

“The pleasure is on mine.” Charlsie nods curtly and pulls back her hand, “You must be Dylan Darcy from the Silver Moon Pack.”

“I didn’t know I am that famous.”

“Lady Serina and I are old friends. I visited your pack when you were a little boy. You were wearing a diaper, chasing after butterflies and chased by your mother. As a toddler, you had an impressive balance beyond your age. It was a lovely picture I would never forget. Alas, guess you don’t remember. You were so naughty at that time and now you’ve become a gentleman. A gentleman with good manners, unlike those reckless barbarians.” Charlsie lay her eyes on the crowd shoveling their bodies towards the entrance of the hall, and then back on me. The corner of her mouth rises a little as she adds, “Lady Serina must find you an excellent tutor.”

“She found me the best.” I smirk as Zander silently stomps on me.

“I see.” Charlsie looks in Zander’s direction and mutters, “You are the best-looking Advisor I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And believe me, I’ve seen quite a lot.”

“I am flattered.” Zander nods curtly and suggests, “Can we enter the hall now? It would be rude to be late for a ceremony.”

“Of course. This way, please.” With Charlsie leading the way, people gathering at the entrance give the way to us. Charlsie halts at the doorway and turns back to us, “Enjoy your party gentlemen.”

“You are not coming?”

“Nay. I need to stay here to maintain order. ” Charlsie gives a pity look and pushes us inside, “Just go.”

The room is less crowded. The first thing that Zander and I did after we enter the splendid palace is to take a sharp inhale of the fresh air.

“Do you like her?”I elbow Zander and ask his opinion.

“Hmm, unreadable. I need more time to tell.”

“Unreadable? You know you could say that the access is denied. It will make you sound more like Siri.”I can’t help but laugh.

Zander frowns at my words. “You are not the first person to give me this comment. Your mate has mentioned that I sound like Siri a few days ago but I had thought it was a joke. It wasn’t a joke, was it? Do I need to adjust my way of speaking?”

“Noooo! ” I clap his shoulder, “No need to take it so seriously. Just be yourself, or Nancy will be furious about me.”

“How is this related to Nancy?”Zander asks incredibly.

I open my mouth, dying to find some words to explain, yet what I ultimately do is to keep my mouth deadly shut.

“I don’t get it. Why will the change in me make Nancy be angry with you? What’s the logic here? Is this connected?”

“Everything is connected.” I assure him, and then wave my hands in a surrendering gesture,“Never mind. Forget what I’ve said. Let’s go and greet Alphas from other packs, shall we? I kind of miss the stars on your blacklists.”

“You owe me an answer, Alpha.” Zander follows behind me unwillingly.

“No comment. Figure it out by yourself, Advisor.”I retort and walk towards a group of people among whom I recognize a lot familiar faces.

There he is.

The Alpha I intend to wager on.

Although that social butterfly stands in the corner, he has attracted a large number of nobles around him, chatting, laughing, toasting.

“Frank.” I shoulder my way through and greet the man in the black suit. This guy not only has a good appearance but also a good taste in dressing . His jet black suit contrasts nicely with his creamy white skin. No wonder he can cajole so many women into his bed.

“Dylan!”Frank exclaims and stretches out his hand. After a hand shaking, he introduces me to his companions, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Dylan Darcy, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack. You should all meet this man, especially you, beauties. Wonder why? Because he is hot like hell and, more importantly, single. ”

“He was. Sorry to mention, but Alpha Dylan has found his mate recently.” Zander’s voice interrupts the unfriendly laughter and all of a sudden they all look at him.

“And you are?”Frank’s smile falls and he turns to Zander, questioning him in a condescending voice.

“Zander White, Advisor of the Silver Moon Pack. It is a great honor to meet you, Alpha Frank.” Zander confronts Frank’s stare and adds politely, “I’ve heard many legends about you and really admire your achievement. ”

Frank is amused and says, “May I ask what achievement you are referring to, since I have made a lot.”

“The Great Chamber you established.”Zander answers with a genuine smile, yet the words he says make Frank shudder.

Now all the nobles are gazing at Frank with curiosity. Their attention has been diverted and no one shows interest in questioning me and my mate, which is great.

Eventually, Frank nods to the nobles and manages to fake a smile, “Do excuse us. I’d love to speak with my old friends in private. ”

The nobles obey his demand and, within a blink of the eye, they leave us.

“It is a surprise to see you’ve become so different. ”Frank sips the wine and looks at me, “The last time I saw you you were begging me not to drag you into the room.”

“I wasn’t begging. I politely rejected your indecent proposal.”

“Well, your version sounds truer.”Frank smirks, “the naked women gave you a heart-attack, didn’t it?”

“It did.”

“I adore your honesty.”Frank laughs and wets his lips, “Where is your mate? Won’t you introduce her to me?”

“I am really concerned that you’ll steal her from me so I didn’t bring my mate here.”

“Seemingly you don’t have much faith in your mate.”Frank’s smile widens.

On the contrary, I have great faith in Helen Hester. Suppose I bring her here and introduce her to Frank, she is very likely to punch him on the nose, or orders her cat to do so. It is a pity that I can’t witness the marvelous scene. Not now.

“You will meet in time.” I assure him, “May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead. Feel free to ask, but I may not answer.” Frank shrugs, “Depends on if your question is smart enough.”

“All right.”I nod as I approach him, leaning forward to whisper to him, “You shall have the support of Sliver Moon Pack in the coming fight for the throne. As allies, we want to know who is your biggest threat. ”

Frank’s eyes widen sharply and he takes a gulp of the wine to conceal his feelings, yet his emotion is exposed by his shaky hands.

“I had thought you would be one of my competitors.” Frank said after a long pause, and he sends me an apologetic look, “I am sorry that I tried to embarrass you in public.”

“Not a big deal. It was a smart move.”

“But aren’t you interested in the throne? ”

“I was. But the moon goddess has her own arrangement. Several days ago I happened to know my mate is a human. I don’t want her to be involved in this struggle.”

“I see.” Frank nods and asks again, “Among all the Alphas, why me? ”

“Because you are really good at disguising yourself.” Zander answers the question, “I was lucky enough to know the other side of you. According to my informant, you are a man living a double life. Love your mate with your whole heart and at the same time pretending to be a woman snatcher, luring plenty of beauties to your bedroom. You didn't sleep with either of them, just pay them to advise you about your addiction to alcohol and sex. A huge sacrifice of reputation indeed. "

Zander doesn't finish as Frank mockingly interrupts him with a challenge. "This makes absolutely no sense. I spend money to have my reputation preceded? What can I get in this?"

"I hate to admit but this question did frustrate me. I trust my informant but wasn't able to comprehend your motivation until one day Dylan came to me, asking me to help him with his reading assignment because he was too lazy to analyze the behavior of the character by himself. " Zander sends me a glance and then continues, "I spent a week finishing those reading stuff, and guess what? Thanks to Shakespeare and his wondeful play writing, King Henry V, the playful king rang a bell to me. All of the sudden an idea occurred to me, making me see the truth that has been hidden in the plain sight yet somehow has been neglected by most people through all these years. What you want is exactly a bad reputation, misleading your competitors to believe you are a man who is too obsessed with sex to be interested in other things. To put it in a nutshell, you are looking for underestimations of your rivals, nursing your strengths in the dark and waiting for the right time to take down your rivals. Shall I continue?"

The arrogant smirk on Frank's face is totally erased by Zander's words. He is like a suspect who gives up defending himself due to the concrete evidence. He appeals to guilty and mutters, "You may stop".

"Good.' Zander breaths a sigh of relief and says, "A glass of water, please. I am thristy."

I was reaching out for the wine tray besides me but Alpha Frank has fetched one and hand it to Zander.

Zander takes the glass with a knowingly smile,"I appreciate it a lot. Alpha Frank."

"You know, if you consider coming to my pack and be my Advisor, I can offer you more. Money, women, whatever you want."

I am shocked at Frank's frankness and shouts at him, "I am still here!"

"I know." He gives me an innocent look and waves his hand shamelessly, "I don't care."

“Thanks for the offer but no.” Zander shakes his head and rejects Frank's inviation.

“Right.” Frank sighs disappointedly and adds, "Please consider it if you are kicked out by your pack."

"We'll NEVER kick him out!" I inform him.

"Don't shout at me, Dylan. You are very rude now."

"Pardon me! You tried to brainwash my Beta to follow you and you blame me for shouting at you? Who is the rude one? I could have smashed your head with the bottle and the only reason why I haven't done this is because your proposal was denied! "

"You should smash him." Zander comments, "End doesn't justify the means."

Whether this is a joke or a threat, Frank is appalled by it. He clears his throat and tries to start a new topic, "You've mentioned your informant. May I know who betrayed me and leaked the information?"

"The informant's identity should be confidential."

"Give me the traitor's name to prove your sincerity, or I shall reject this alliance."Frank commands.

Zander and I exchange a look and I gesture him to answer. He hesitates for a second and then speaks, "The person who informs me of your true side has a golden heart and I plead with you not to mistake this lady for a traitor. All she wants is to establish a strong union between our packs, helping you achieve your ambition."

"You don't have to speak for her. Traitor or loyal servant, I will make my own judgement. Now, the name."

"She doesn't give me her name, but told me she was your mate who wasn't banished from the pack, but exiled herself to be a rouge so that you can have enough space to perform the show."

"How is it possible that you get in touch with her?”at the mention of his mate, Frank's stern face becomes soft and he asks quietly.

Zander reaches to his pocket and takes out the phone, showing it to Frank and smiles, “Via this".